News
Four UK firms bagged top 10 spots in Mergermarket’s global M&A league tables for law firms, released this week.
Freshfields, Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Linklaters come third to sixth respectively, with US-based Sullivan & Cromwell and Skadden Arps taking the top two spots globally.
The tables, based on announced transactions over US$5m from 1 January–31 December 2007, show that US firms remain in the ascendancy: London-based firms comprise just five of the top 20 positions globally and only Freshfields and Clifford Chance appear in the North American M&A tables, ranking 16th and 17th respectively.
Andre Sawyer, Mergermarket EMEA managing editor, says the “average deal size criterion” is telling, suggesting the predominance of US law firms amid large cap, trans-Atlantic activity.
“Sullivan & Cromwell’s average deal size of about €7.4bn was more than double that of the best placed UK firm by this measure, Herbert Smith, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe with a deal size of €2.7bn.”
Whether the US law firms manage to hold onto their positions in 2008, he says, depends on whether the recent surge in UK-to-US M&A activity continues.
“If the corporates continue to take advantage of the cheap dollar then we would expect US firms to consolidate their top 10 positions,” he adds.
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